OBSERVATIONAL DESIGNS
unstructured and structured observations
unstructured
structured
😢produces qualitative data, which may be much more difficult to record and analyse
😢 may be a greater risk of observer bias, as there is no objective behavioural categories
accounts for all behaviour that is rich in detail. this method is appropriate when observations are in small scale and involve few ppts
😃 makes recording data easier and systematic
😃 data produced is likely to be quantitative, which means analysing and comparing the behaviour is much more straightforward
simplifies the target behaviours that will become the main focus of the investigation using behavioural categories
the rest of the branches only apply to structured
behavioural categories
these need to be clear, instead of a category that is subjective. they must be observable, measurable and self-evident
😃 makes data collection more structured and objective
first its necessary to break the target behaviour up into a a set of behavioural categories
sampling methods
in structured observations the researcher must use a systematic way of sampling their observations
event sampling = involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour occurs in a target individual or group
inter-observer reliability
first observers should familiarise themselves with the behavioural categories used
the observe the behaviour at the same time
to make data more objective and unbiased, observations should be carried out by at least two researchers
observers should compare the data they have recorded and discuss different interpretations
the data from the different observers is then compared to check for consistency
then observers should correlate the different scores
time sampling = involves recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame, eg every 30 seconds